ASTON Villa manager Martin O'Neill has apologised after taking the blame for Gabriel Agbonlahor's absence from the England Under-21 squad for the forthcoming European Championships.

ASTON Villa manager Martin O'Neill has apologised after taking the blame for Gabriel Agbonlahor's absence from the England Under-21 squad for the forthcoming European Championships.

Agbonlahor was due to be part of Stuart Pearce's party for the tournament but was left out in acrimonious circumstances yesterday after Pearce and the Football Association were unable to get in touch with the highly-rated forward, who scored 10 goals for Villa in his breakthrough season.

But Agbonlahor's club boss O'Neill has accepted responsibility for a breakdown in communications.

He said: "I spoke to Stuart a couple of weeks ago to say to him that Gabby has had a long season with hardly a moment's rest in the Premier League, and that he may need a little while longer to recover from illness and niggling injury.

"I felt Gabby would benefit from a slightly longer break but perhaps I didn't communicate this correctly to Stuart. I am genuinely sorry about any mix-up and I know Gabby was keen to be in the squad."

Agbonlahor, who can still go on to play for Scotland or Nigeria despite having three under-21 caps for England, appeared to have upset Pearce by failing to return calls from the FA.

"I think he's been away on holiday and won't return the calls," said the former Manchester City manager. "I felt a bit disappointed but one person's loss in another one's gain. The bottom line is someone else is in the squad and they might end up scoring the winner and coming home with a winners' medal.

"The more important thing from my point of view is the players who are desperate to be here. And last week, at the training camp, certainly showed their determination to be part of the squad."